How trial hunting has become a cover for illegal fox hunting

Dr Keith Darlington

Foxhunting became illegal in 2004, and has been replaced by trial hunting. This is a legal activity and would not be problematic if conducted within the spirit of the law.

Many hunts converted to this practice after hunting animals was made illegal in 2004. However, trial hunting has been widely shown to be used as a cover for illegal fox and stag hunting with dogs. Since the Hunting Act was implemented, a large body of evidence is available that shows that more than 40% of hunts are breaking this law in pursuing foxes and deer illegally.

The failings of the 2004 ban

It is truly astonishing that over 20 years after the ban came into effect, the law has been flouted so often. Yet, Blair’s government must take the blame for this because his MPs and party supported the ban. But he would only support a partial ban and instead opted for a middle way that was doomed to fail – almost from the start.

The Blair government, fearing a backlash from the hunting community, was ambivalent from the start, and only implemented a ban under pressure from his MPs and party. This meant that Blair was giving a lifeline to foxhunting because he was enabling them to continue hunting with dogs whilst assuming that they would comply with the spirit of the law. This was always doubtful because, during the passage of the hunting bill, more than 3000 hunters signed a pledge, despite the ban, saying that they would break the law and continue hunting animals. They have been consistent ever since by constantly defying the ban and have had the opportunity to do so by riding with their hounds.

Blair’s Hunting Act is widely considered a failure because the practice has continued due to legal loopholes – specifically, the trail hunting exemption. This legal activity uses hounds to follow a scented trail rather than a live animal. But a great deal of evidence shows this is used as a “smokescreen” for illegal hunting.

The nature of this law makes enforcement difficult because a prosecution against an offending hunt must prove they did not meet the exemption conditions and that is difficult because when foxes, or deer, are killed by the hunts, the hunts will claim it was accidental. Prosecutions have been secured but it is time consuming and requires a great deal of work in gathering video evidence, and so on. The monitoring of law breaking is secured by Hunt Saboteur Associations who will present their evidence to the police to decide on action.

Excuses
The hunting community have used a variety of excuses to justify their activities including the claim that there are other animal abuses happening so why restrict hunting. That’s a bit like saying that you shouldn’t do anything because you can’t do everything. Supporters of foxhunting also say that it is a tradition that must be preserved. Really? Wasn’t Witch hunting a tradition? That thankfully wasn’t preserved.

Bear baiting, where a live adult bear was tormented and forced to suffer, was also legal until 1835, and was thankfully banned. They also say that there are more important things to be talking about and doing. Yet, MPs of all political strands say they get a larger post bag on hunting matters than most issues and judging by social media activity on Boxing Day, they seem to have more to say about than most issues.

The hunting community, for all their hot air, have never been able to provide a justification that explains why chasing a terrified animal for several miles to the point of exhaustion and then being torn to shreds is not cruel and causes needless suffering. It cannot be right that it continues despite a ban being in place. This is why opinion polls consistently show that public opinion supports a ban. Recent polls show that around 80% or more of the public oppose hunting and would like to see the Hunting Act strengthened.

Conclusions
After more than 20 years of failure, loopholes exploited by those that break the law must be closed. Any solution has to prevent illegal hunting continuing under the guise of trail hunting. The Labour government has announced a plan for trial hunting as part of the new animal welfare strategy, which was published on 22nd December 2025. The Animal Welfare Minister Baroness Hayman said: “In our manifesto we said we would ban trail hunting, and that’s exactly what we’ll do. However, given this government’s propensity to U-turns, I fear that our PM may buckle under pressure as his Labour PM predecessor Blair did. He may try to find another middle way, or worse, the PM may not implement any change at all.

This is a defining issue for the character and resolve of the PM and Labour MPs. They need to show us where they stand and realize that the Blair middle approach has failed for over 20 years and a stable solution is necessary. A hunting ban that closes all legal loopholes is, surely, the only way forward, otherwise the problems with enforcing illegal hunts will continue and we will be back to square one with all future Boxing Day discussions devoted to illegal hunting.

Majority of people think trail hunting should be illegal, polling suggests

Emily Beament, Press Association Environment Correspondent

A majority of people across the political spectrum and in both towns and the countryside think trail hunting should be illegal, polling suggests.

Labour pledged in its manifesto to ban trail hunting, a practice in which a scent is laid across the countryside for hounds and riders to follow as an alternative to banned fox hunting, but which has been criticised as a “smokescreen” for illegal activity.

An announcement last month on animal welfare reforms outlined the Government’s plans to ban the practice, but animal welfare campaigners are frustrated at its failure to launch the consultation on doing so.

Nearly two-thirds (62%) of more than 2,000 people polled for the League Against Cruel Sports thought that trail hunting should be illegal, compared to a quarter (24%) who thought it should be legal.

The polling by Survation of people in England and Wales found majorities in favour of making the practice illegal in both urban and rural areas, as well as among voters for all parties, including the Conservatives, Reform UK, Labour, Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Plaid Cymru.

Emma Slawinski, League Against Cruel Sports chief executive, said: “This polling shows that people from across the political spectrum and from both town and countryside have seen through the lame excuses being offered up by the hunting world and want to see trail hunting banned.

“The time for change is now and we urge the Government to act and to push ahead with the consultation to ban trail hunting which they firstly promised to deliver last year and then early in the new year.

She added: “We want to see the Government launch its consultation to ban trail hunting and to also remove the exemptions in the Hunting Act, introduce jail sentences to act as a deterrent to lawbreakers and to outlaw reckless and accidental hunting.”

Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said: “Given the scale of the challenges facing rural communities, from the damage caused by the family farm tax, to raising rates for rural businesses and the cost of living, it would be absurd to prioritise even more parliamentary time on the issue of hunting.

“If the Government want to repair their relationship with the countryside, they need to start by working with the rural community – not legislate against it.”

A Labour spokesperson said: “In our manifesto, we said we would ban trail hunting and that’s exactly what we’ll do.

“We will be launching a consultation seeking views on how best to deliver a full ban.”